Shloka 16
Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)
मनस्तु पूर्वमादद्यात् कुमीनमिव मत्स्यहा । ततः श्रोत्रं ततश्नक्षुर्जिन्वां प्राणं च योगवित्
manas tu pūrvam ādad yāt kumīnam iva matsyahā | tataḥ śrotraṃ tataś cakṣur jihvāṃ prāṇaṃ ca yogavit | sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati |
ヴィヤーサは言った。「まずヨーガを知る者は、漁師が魚を捕らえるように、心を捕えて制しなければならぬ。次に耳を、次に眼を、次に舌を、そして生命の息（プラーナ prāṇa）をも調御せよ。堅固なる者はサットヴァ（清明と純粋）を養うことにより、眠り（昏沈）を断ち、規律ある修行において覚醒を保つに足る者となる。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Begin spiritual discipline by mastering the mind first; only then can the senses (hearing, sight, taste) and the vital breath be brought under control. Cultivating sattva—clarity, purity, and steadiness—reduces tamas-like torpor and enables one to overcome sleep as an obstacle to yogic practice.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented conduct, Vyāsa delivers practical yogic guidance: he outlines an order of inner conquest—mind first, then the sensory faculties, then prāṇa—using the vivid simile of a fisherman catching a fish to describe firm restraint.